CHAPTER XVIII.
The Would-Be Candidates The big stir came earlier than it had been expected.
Every boy who has followed such matters in his own interest will appreciate what the "big stir" means.
Congressman Spokes, representing the district in which Gridley lay, had a vacant cadetship at West Point within his gift, and also a cadetship at Annapolis.
_"On December 17, at nine A.M., at the town hall in Wilburville, I will meet all young men who believe themselves to possess the other proper qualifications for a cadetship at either West Point or Annapolis."_ So ran the Congressman's announcement in the daily press of the district.
Every young man had to be of proper age, height, weight and general good bodily condition.

He must, of course, be a citizen of the United States.
Every young man was advised to save himself some possible trouble and disappointment by going, first of all, to his family physician for a thorough examination.

If serious bodily defects were found, that would save the young man from the trouble of going further in the matter.
But at the Wilburville town hall there was to be another physical examination, which every young man must pass before he would be admitted to the mental examinations, which were to last into the evening.
Dick Prescott read this announcement and thrilled over it.
For two years or more he had been awaiting this very opportunity.
Every Congressman once in four years has one of these cadetships to give to some young man.
Sometimes the Congressman would give the chance to a boy of high social connections, or else to the son of an influential politician.
A cadetship was a prize with which the Congress man too often paid his debts.
Good old General Daniel E.Sickles was the first Congressman to formulate the plan of giving the cadetship to the brightest boy in district, the young man proving his fitness by defeating all other aspirants in a competitive examination.
Since that time the custom had grown up of doing this regularly.
It is true, at any rate of most of the states of the Union.
In some western and some southern states the cadetship is still given as a matter of favor.
The young man who receives the appointment goes to the United States Military Academy at West Point.

He is now a "candidate" only.

At West Point he is subjected to another searching series of physical and mental examinations.